2025 NBA Draft: Cedric Coward Scouting Report

Evaluating the D-3-to-D-I prospect ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft.

DRAFT EVALUATION: Lottery pick

LAST BIG BOARD: N/R

NBA ROLE: Two-way ballhandling wing

REMINDS ME OF: Early career Mikal Bridges, Ziaire Williams

RAW STATS: 17.7 PTS, 7 REB (1.8oo/5.2d), 3.7 AST to 2.2 TOV, 0.8 STL, 1.7 BLK, 2.7 PF in 6 GAMES (198 minutes)

ADVANCED STATS (last season in parentheses): 8.8 BPM (3.1), 22.3 USG% (21.5), 70 TS% (66.2), 7.0 OREB% (6.2), 17.2 DREB% (19.1), 20.6 AST% (10.6), 16.5 TOV% (18.9), 1.7 A/TO (0.8), 1.4 STL”% (1.6), 5.3 BLK% (3.7), 50.8 FTr (26.6)

Background:

• Birthday: September 11, 2003

• Height: 6-foot-5¼

• Wingspan: 7-foot-2¼

• Standing reach: 8-foot-10

• Weight: 213 pounds

• Really loves basketball. Has watched “The Last Dance” multiple times. Can name every NBA MVP, in order, since 1980.

• Parents are mom Shanel and stepfather Ray Moore. Last name comes from biological dad, whom he doesn’t have a relationship with. Keeps last name ‘Coward’ to honor his paternal grandfather Francis. Maternal grandfather Maxie Parks was a “world class quarter-miler” who became an Olympic gold medalist in Montreal 1976. He is very close to his grandfather.

• Played high school basketball at Central High (Fresno, CA). Was a two-time Tri River All-League selection. Was on the freshman team in his first year, then junior varsity as a sophomore. Didn’t play varsity until he was a junior.

  • As a senior, averaged: 17.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.7 blocks

  • As a junior, averaged: 14.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.8 blocks

  • As a freshman, averaged: 11.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.2 blocks

• Stopped playing AAU basketball going into his junior year of high school: "I didn't play AAU because I just didn't like the situation I was in. I thought I was losing love for the game."

• Started college career at Division III school Willamette University. He was accepted into 11 universities, but just two recruited him to play. Averaged 19.4 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists on 45.3 3P% and 60.8 FG%.

  • “Coward picked the place as much, if not more, for academics as he did basketball. The team was a terrible 1-29 in the two seasons prior to Coward arriving.”

• New Mexico State, Idaho, and Southern Utah recruited him out of D-III. Committed to Eastern Washington. Former EWU assistant Arturo Ormond¹ “did a lot of the groundwork on recruiting Coward.”

• Spring, summer, and fall of 2023 is when his development appears to have been expedited. Played as more of a post player, rather than a wing, growing up.

• In two seasons at Eastern Washington:

  • 2022-23: 7.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists to 0.9 turnovers, 0.8 steals, 0.6 blocks on 58.3/39.4/74.2 shooting splits and a 73.9 TS%.

    • All-Big Sky First Team

  • 2023-24: 15.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists to 2.2 turnovers, 1.0 steals, 0.9 blocks on 56.5/38.3/89.5 shooting splits and a 67.7 TS%.

• Followed head coach David Riley from Eastern Washington to Washington State. Season ended because of a “shredded rotator cuff and partially torn labrum in his left (non-shooting) shoulder.”

• Committed to Duke after entering the transfer portal. Turned down Alabama, Kansas, Washington, and Florida. Ended up forgoing playing for the Blue Devils in order to stay in the draft.

• Favorite player is Kobe Bryant: "If I'm going against you on the court, I'm trying to kill you. I'm trying to take your head off. That's all it is. When I step on the court, now it's go time in between those four lines. It's a battle. And you don't win battles by being friends."

• Is a sneaker artist in his down time. Paint shoes. Has an Instagram account dedicated to his customs. Also enjoys baking cookies. Red velvet are the standouts, seemingly.

• Represented by the Life Sports Agency.

Takeaway:

Cedric Coward is one of the safest bets in the 2025 draft. He has awesome physical tools with an impressive backstory (going from junior varsity as a high school sophomore to D-III in college to D-I standout before the NBA) and the two-way skillset to excel as a wing in the league.

In a median outcome, Coward will be a complementary, off-ball wing who adds value with his spot-up shooting, defensive switchability, and ancillary decision-making. He’ll dribble and pass to some extent, even if he’ll largely be a play finisher. Historically, he has been ultra-efficient.

On defense, the Washington State prospect has a high, safe floor. He’s a good defender right now, but probably not a great one yet. Still, the Fresno native is a super fluid mover, although on the slimmer side, who stays in front of his man and creates events off-the-ball on this end. I expect Coward to definitely guard wings, and he’ll defend 1-through-4 in the best of outcomes.

Coward’s ceiling on offense is connected to his dribble/pass/shoot development over time. The 21-year-old grew up primarily playing in the post. Now, he can run some pick-and-roll, make connective reads, and use screens to get to his spots for buckets in the midrange. All of this is a work in progress, and it’s more connected to his ceiling.

I feel very good about Coward’s three-point shooting when he’s spotting up. I'd like to see him add a bit more versatility off movement and such, but he has a very efficient track record (as with the entirety of his scoring, basically), and his high release point is tough to affect. He also showed more interesting flashes coming out of hand-offs at Eastern Washington, which can hopefully carry over into the NBA.

In college, there could be too big of a focus on playing through Coward in the post. He'll start from the perimeter in the NBA. That's why he needs to become more comfortable off the catch, attacking closeouts. Improving his handle and getting stronger will be important in that area — and, really, with his drives as a whole. It's tough to argue with 70+% at the rim like he's been scoring, though.

A lower end scenario, which appears unlikely since Coward has one of the highest floors in this draft, would see his three-point shooting not translating, his at-rim finishing suffering because of his strength, and his defense failing to specialize. Even then, Coward would probably eat up regular season minutes for a team.

Strengths:

• Dribble/pass/shoot development while possessing awesome physical tools and a track record of improvement.

  • D/P/S progress has been taking place season-to-season.

  • Gets to his midrange pull-up out of two or three dribbles. Uses his body to create space into a stepback. High release point is very tough to contest.

  • Up-and-down, compact shot. Squares his shoulders to the rim. Repeatable mechanics.

  • Plays off two feet. Has counters when his drives are walled off.

  • Interesting body control as a slasher. Slithers around the floor. Leverages his long limbs. Loves using the glass to finish.

• Scalable next to ball-dominant superstars. Easy fit. Very little to pick apart with his spot-up shooting and off-ball game as a whole.

  • Numbers and eye test suggest that he’ll be an efficient floor spacer.

  • Very clean, repeatable mechanics. Got looks out of hand-offs and movement at Eastern Washington.

  • Defenders can’t get to his high release point from the midrange or from deep.

  • Catch-and-shoot threat gives him a safe floor as an off-ball wing in the 3-and-D mold.

  • Adds value in other ancillary areas with his rebounding, cutting, and overall activity.

• Efficient finishing and archetype. Makes the shots that he needs to make as a spot-up shooter and at the basket. In his last 38 games (1175 minutes):

  • 56.4 FG% / 38.7 3P% / 88 FT% / 69.4 2P%

  • 74.8% (113/151) at the rim … 72.2% (70/97) in the half-court

  • 52.4% (11/21) on off-the-dribble twos … 26.9% (7/26) on off-the-dribble threes

  • 40.7 3P% (55/135) on catch-and-shoot threes … 34.2 3P% (27/79) ‘guarded’ … 50 3P% (28/56) ‘unguarded’

  • 83.2 FT% (149/179)

  • 76 AST to 84 TOV (0.9 A/TO)

  • 37 STL, 40 BLK (2 ‘stocks’ per game)

• Playmaking flashes.

  • Passing is most underrated skill. Moments in the pick-and-roll go back to when he was at Eastern Washington, where he was often the primary initiator.

    • Can make some strong side reads, but needs to keep fleshing out ballhandling and passing.

    • Struggles with his second dribble out of the pick-and-roll sometimes.

    • Reads are solid. Nothing more.

    • Context in the NBA will probably benefit his passing more. Has shown enough lecture and execution for me to be interested.

    • Best case scenario has him creating in the pick-and-roll. Most likely, he’ll be a connective passer in transition, hitting the extra pass, etc.

  • Most comfortable making passes out of the post right now. Probably played with his back to the basket too much in college. Makes sense since he was a post player growing up.

    • Teams would clear out one side of the floor and let him to go to work down low.

    • He gets doubled in the post fairly often in college. Won’t be the case in the NBA most likely.

  • Will need to adjust his spots in the NBA. But makes nice reads with skip passes, drop-offs, and timely sprays.

    • Passes will need to come more so starting on the perimeter and driving in, rather than on the block.

    • Also attacking off the catch/driving a closeout.

• Off-ball defense and on-ball switchability.

  • Insanely long. +9 wingspan (7-foot-2¼).

  • Above-the-rim athlete with legit ground coverage. Can pitch in with blocks as a help-side rim proector or with steals in the passing lanes.

  • Engaged and alert off-ball. Carries out the scheme diligently. Doesn’t fall victim to ballwatching. Disciplined.

  • Will likely guard 2-4. Probably will check 1s. The 3 is probably his best position right now.

  • Moves fluidly in space. Deters drives.

  • Tools give his team optionality.

Improvements:

• On-ball package.

  • Needs to attack closeouts more assertively. Usually only shoots when he’s spotting up.

    • Only 11 drives out of spot-ups last season. 5 this season.

• Pull-up consistency.

  • Shotmaking off the dribble needs to go up a notch in order to fulfill ceiling.

  • More comfortable from two than from three. Small volume from each area.

• Turnover balance.

  • Turnovers are usually due to his handle, not his passing reads. Not to a worrying extent.

  • Can kill his dribble too early. Handle is on the looser side against real pressure or contact.

  • Needs to keep improving left hand.

• Defensive production.

  • Good, not great defender yet. Can get there.

  • Balance is improvable. Needs to keep getting stronger.

  • Can give up ground to stronger 3s and 4s. Or give up the blow-by to a smaller ballhandler. A bit inconsistent still, but not alarmingly so.

  • Isn’t always as annoying as his tools imply. Maybe can scale up his defensive production with less/narrower offensive responsibilities.

• Has faced a relatively low level of competition until now.

  • Backstory is awesome, but the flip side of continual improvement is having ‘maxed out’ said improvement. I don’t think this is the case, but it’s a possibility.

  • Late bloomer in every sense of the word. Didn’t stand out in high school. Under-recruited (definitely in hindsight, at least) when he left D-III.

  • College route so far features Willamette (D-III), Eastern Washington (Big Sky), Washington State (WCC, just 6 games).

  • Would’ve been good to see him at Duke against tougher opponents more regularly.

1. He spent a long time time coaching in Fresno.